Nov. 11, 2013 photo of William St. Sauver, who was arrested Monday after he was found burying two horses who were allegedly shot and killed. The horses' owner had been boarding them at the St. Sauver farm in Scandia. (Courtesy of Washington County Sheriff's Office)

An autopsy has revealed that the Scandia man who died in a single-vehicle accident last month was intoxicated when he crashed his car into a tree.

William St. Sauver, 31, was alone in a Chrysler minivan when it veered off the road and crashed. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

The medical examiner determined St. Sauver died from multiple traumatic injuries due to a motor vehicle collision, according to the Washington County sheriff’s office. The autopsy also showed that St. Sauver’s blood-alcohol level was more than 0.2; the legal limit to drive in Minnesota is 0.08.

St. Sauver had been at the center of an investigation stemming from the death of two American saddlebred horses on his family’s Scandia farm late last year.

He was charged with two counts of felony animal torture in January for allegedly shooting the horses, which were being boarded at the farm temporarily. St. Sauver also was charged with one felony count of being in possession of a controlled substance and a dangerous weapon because police reportedly found psychedelic mushrooms and a handgun at the farm when they were investigating the mares’ deaths.

Last summer St. Sauver was charged with harboring an exotic animal after two small alligators reportedly escaped from the farm.

Elizabeth Mohr came to the Pioneer Press in 2006 and has covered education, public safety, city and county governments and courts. She's done stints as a weekend reporter and as an online breaking news reporter. In 2014, she took over the Ramsey County and federal court beat, as well as archdiocese coverage. Mohr is a South Dakota native and a University of Minnesota (Twin Cities) graduate.

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